Shorewood Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison in Child Porn Case

A 55-year-old Shorewood man has been sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and two years and six months of extended supervision, , according to online court records.

Kenneth Johnson received the sentence in Milwaukee County Circuit Court April 30, after filing a guilty plea as part of an agreement with the district attorney's office in March. The maximum sentence allowed for the charge under state law is 40 years in prison. Johnson will get credit for 273 days already served.

Milwaukee police started a sting operation after discovering an Aug. 2 Craigslist posting, in which Johnson said he was looking for a "son, no age limits." He later met with an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old boy at Shorewood High School after chatting in an online chat room; Johnson was then arrested.

Police later found thousands of images and thousands of videos of child pornography in his Shorewood home at 4172 N. Newhall Ave.

Johnson also faces three federal charges including one count of transporting child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of accessing a protected computer.

A federal court trial schedule for late April was cancelled, and Johnson is instead due in court for a change of plea hearing on May 24 at 2 p.m. He had previously entered a not guilty plea.

Federal prosecutors say Johnson "shared image and video files containing child pornography over the Internet via a peer-to-peer file-sharing program on his home computers with undercover agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Los Angeles, California; Springfield, Illinois; and Kansas City, Missouri."

Under the extended supervision community clause of his sentence, Johnson will be prohibited from:

• Operating a computer or device that has Internet access
• Unsupervised contact with children under 16 years old
• Possession of a firearm

Also, he will be required to:

• Complete 400 hours of community service
• Register with the sex offender registry
• Be susceptible to random urine screens
• Attend treatment and counseling programs

The federal charges of transportation of child pornography carry minimum five-year prison sentences for each count, with a maximum of 20 years. The other counts each have maximum sentences of five years in prison. The charges also come with the possibility of a $250,000 fine.